James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The scheme is a major concession on the basis that the nurses will be employed outside the employment control framework which has been set and within which we must reduce numbers. It allows us to create what was previously known as a "nursing bank" which will include people with the type of skills we require. The current dependency on agency nursing means one has to take the agency nurse provided. An agency nurse might work one week in orthopaedics, the next in a cardiac unit and the following week on a rheumatology ward. One is not getting the ideal level of continuity. With a nursing bank, one has access to groups of nurses one knows are skilled in particular areas. They are the nurses who will fill the gaps which are created by maternity or sick leave. The scheme will enhance the employability of the graduates who go through the two-year programme. They will emerge with skills which are not as freely available among their colleagues. It will confer on them an advantage in competing for employment here or elsewhere should they wish to travel abroad.

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